PivotdrillPivot table exercises, built in your browser and checked number by number
Pivot tables are learned by building them, and the fastest way to learn is to be told at once when the layout or a number is wrong. Each exercise gives you a dataset, a question and a pivot builder that works like Excel's: drag fields into Rows, Columns, Values and Filters, pick the aggregation, group the dates, set Show Values As. Then the result is checked cell by cell.
Pivot table basics
One field in Rows, one in Values, the right aggregation. Then a second field in Columns to make a grid, and MAX and MIN instead of SUM.
Sorting and filtering a pivot
Sort the rows by the value, not the label; drop a status into Filters; keep only the high-priority rows. These are the steps that turn a pivot into a report.
Grouping dates by month, quarter and year
Group a date field by months, quarters or years, put years in Columns for a year-over-year view, and filter to a single quarter.
Show Values As: percent of total, row and column
The same pivot answers three different questions depending on Show Values As: share of the grand total, the mix inside each row, or where each column's total comes from.
Several values and nested rows
Two or three measures side by side, a count next to a sum and an average, and two fields stacked in Rows. These are the pivots that replace a half-hour of SUMIFS.
Real work
Six cases phrased the way a manager asks: check the commission figures, approved spend per department per month, resolution time by priority, returning-customer value. You decide the layout.
What is checked
The result table: row labels, column labels, every number and the grand totals, in the order the question asks for. The feedback names the first cell that is off, which usually points straight at the wrong aggregation, a missing filter or a field in the wrong area. After two attempts the correct layout opens.
Build the pivots
Seven exercises are free without an account. Pro unlocks all 31, with hints, the correct layout after two tries and progress saved to your account.
Start practicing freeQuestions
Is this the same as Excel's pivot table?
The builder has the same four areas (Filters, Columns, Rows, Values), the same aggregations, date grouping and Show Values As options, and produces the same result table. The layouts you learn here transfer directly to Excel and Google Sheets.
Do I need Excel?
No. The datasets and the pivot builder run in your browser. Each dataset can also be downloaded as CSV if you want to rebuild the pivot in Excel.
Does it cover calculated fields?
Not yet. The set covers aggregation, layout, sorting, filtering, date grouping, Show Values As and multiple values, which is what most pivot work and most interview tasks need.
How long does the set take?
About a week at twenty minutes a day. The Real work level takes longest because the question does not tell you the layout.